It is well known to use a concrete curb in a plant environment to protect walls against damage from equipment such as a fork lift truck. Concrete curbs are poured on-site using forms to hold the concrete in place as it cures. This process requires large equipment, such as cement mixers, to be present on the plant site to provide the concrete. In the process of pouring the concrete for the curbs significant mess is left behind at the job site. The process of producing curbs on-site also causes in interruption in other construction or preparation activities within the plant. In addition, the poured curbs take days to cure before the forms can be removed and the construction is complete. The longer that labor is present on the job site, the higher the cost.
It is also well known to manufacture a curb off-site and transport pre-formed curbs for installation on site. Concrete curbs have high compression strength, but low tensile strength, and may crack or break during transportation. Additionally, concrete curbs are very heavy, resulting in higher transportation and labor costs. Lastly, installation on site of pre-formed concrete curbs, as well as poured concrete curbs, lead to gaps between the top of the curb and wall, creating region where water can settle and contaminants, including bacteria, may grow.
Beyond the construction issues associated with a concrete curb system are the functional issues associated with concrete. A concrete curb does not absorb energy upon an impact; rather it translates energy from the impact to the wall behind it or reflected to back to the vehicle. Upon impact, most of the energy from the object striking the concrete curb will be transferred from the curb to the wall behind the curb along with a reaction force back to the object. This may result in damage to the wall, the forklift truck or even the driver due to sudden deceleration.
As a solution to the weight or density issue, others have suggested using a material foam material. One such solution is found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,407,341, which discloses a floating barrier wall that includes a number of individual barrier units each comprising a housing formed in the general shape of a highway barrier having a top wall, a bottom wall, opposed end walls, and, opposed side walls interconnected to form a hollow interior which is preferably partially or completely filled with a foam material. A ballast weight is secured to each barrier unit, either along or beneath the bottom wall, to maintain the barriers in an upright position in the water. Cables, couplers and/or other connectors are employed to mount adjacent barrier units end-to-end to form a barrier wall which can encircle a vessel or otherwise isolate an area within a seaport to provide security. Clearly, the above invention, although formed of a cellular structure, does not disclose a curb system for protecting a wall in a plant environment or a means of sealing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,408 discloses a unitary composite laminate structure which comprises an inner foam core and an outer encapsulating layer with a high strength, load-bearing matrix. The above invention discloses a wall structure rather than a curb system and does not disclose a sanitary solution for protecting a wall in a plant environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,351,002 discloses a barrier device comprises a top wall, a bottom wall, opposed end walls and opposed side walls interconnected to form a hollow interior in which a pair of spaced openings are formed which extend between the side walls. An external reinforcement structure is provided to enhance the structural integrity of the barrier device, including first and second beams each located along one of the side walls which are connected to one another by a mounting device extending through the openings in the hollow interior, or, alternatively, are mounted within a seat formed in each side wall between the opposed ends of the barrier device. The beams of one barrier device are connected end-to-end with the beams of adjacent barrier devices to form an essentially continuous wall of barriers which resist disengagement from one another and exhibit improved resistance to being broken apart upon impact by a vehicle. Although formed of a cellular structure, does not disclose a curb system for a plant environment or a means of sealing the curbing system.
U.S. application number 20080041004 discloses a structure having multiple layers of polymer foam for forming structural concrete into a desired planar shape that retains a foam panel when flat or upright, providing an integrated air gap between concrete panels. The polymer foam has a planar shape and an exterior surface with multiple channels into the panel. Then concrete is poured upon the exterior surface and into the channels. Although the above application discloses using foam between wall panels, it is not an energy absorbing structure or a protection function.
U.S. application number 20070157538 discloses a modular curb assembly of pre-cast pre-finished components forming a base for supporting sidewalls of a shower stall or other enclosure attached to a floor. The curb is made from a plurality of pre-cast pre-finished components of substantially uniform shaped cross section joined in end to end relationship to each other and attached to a floor in a predetermined contour around the perimeter of the enclosure. The components may be straight, curved or in the shape of angular corners and are cast in various configurations which provide a choice of different end angles so that the contour of the curb can be varied depending upon which different combination of component configurations are used in any particular curb design. Although these curb elements are used in association with shower walls, they are neither energy absorbing nor are they protective of the shower walls.
Thus, there is a need in the art to provide an energy absorbing curb system for a plant environment. Further it is desirable to provide a low cost curbing system that is durable, lightweight and energy absorbing while maintaining a sanitary, seamless environment. It is further desirable to provide a curb system that is fast to install while proving little interruption to ongoing operations within the facility.